How No International Cricket Affected PCB Financially.

Pakistan has not seen a frequent traffic of International Cricket since 2009. Since the terrorist attack on Sri Lankan team, almost all teams have rejected to play in Pakistan. Many Cricket fans of the new generation haven’t even seen International teams play in their country. Except for Zimbabwe’s tour of Pakistan in 2015 and PSL 2017’s final, no International Cricket has been played. This frustrating drought has had a devastating effect on, not only the fans and Cricketers, but the Pakistan Cricket Board too.

How has lack of International Cricket in Pakistan affected PCB financially? Well the financial situation of the Pakistan Cricket Board wasn’t very good either before the famine of International Cricket but now it’s even worse. A Cricket Board needs to be strong and wealthy, so that it can support the growth of the sport in the country, and host tours too. For example, Board of Control for Cricket in India is the strongest Cricket Board without a doubt, and consequently, Indian team has been dominating all formats of Cricket.

The Pakistan Cricket Board has suffered massive financial losses during this period of no International Cricket in the country. Many teams have refused to tour Pakistan in the recent years due to security issues. As a result, Pakistan Cricket Board has to make heavy expenditures to host countries in United Arab Emirates. The International Cricket Council hasn’t helped much in this matter financially, so the Pakistan Cricket Board has to bear huge expenses of hosting teams in UAE. One of the main reasons for PCB’s financial problems is that stadiums in Pakistan aren’t generating nearly as much revenue as they would in International matches.

India and Pakistan had an agreement to play six series between them from 2015 till 2023, which was supposed to strengthen Pakistan Cricket Board’s financial situation. But India refused to honor the agreement and hasn’t played any series since 2012. The only Indo-Pak clashes we see are in ICC tournaments or Asia Cups. The ICC milks the huge amount of money from these clashes as expected. If these matches were to be played in Pakistan as per the agreement then PCB’s financial position would have been a lot better. Revenue generated from Indo-Pak clashes can help PCB financially too.

ICC should help PCB financially as Pakistan has served Cricket enormously in the previous decades. If International Cricket is frequently played in Pakistan, then stadiums would start generating revenue, foreign teams will tour Pakistan regularly thus stabilizing the Pakistan Cricket Board financially.